AOL Searches for Head of Music Business, Retains Spencer Stuart

July 23 (Bloomberg) -- AOL Inc. is on the hunt for a person
to run its music business, helping Chief Executive Officer Tim
Armstrong reverse sales declines at the Internet company spun
off from Time Warner Inc. last year.

Recruiting firm Spencer Stuart was hired to conduct the
executive search, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg News
and confirmed by AOL, which is based in New York. AOL wants a
vice president to lead a group that “will be responsible for
defining and producing the user experience on AOL’s music
site,” according to the memo.

Armstrong, named CEO in April 2009 after nine years at
Google Inc., is adding content to keep AOL’s millions of monthly
users more loyal to the site and he’s selling businesses
considered too expensive to turn around. In digital music, AOL
will face competition from companies including Apple Inc.,
Amazon.com Inc. and Google, which bought digital music site
Simplify Media Inc. this year.

The hire will be in charge of “contributing to the growth
of AOL’s revenue by defining market trends and opportunities,
creating a relevant business model and developing new digital-related services, products and capabilities,” the memo says.

AOL spokeswoman Caroline Campbell confirmed the validity of the
memo, which is dated May 2010, and said the search remains under
way. Spencer Stuart spokesman Jim Horton declined to comment.

AOL dropped 15 cents to $20.86 at 12:57 p.m. on the New
York Stock Exchange. Before today, it had declined 9.8 percent
this year, compared with the 1.9 percent decline in the Standard
& Poor’s 500 Index. The company said in April that first-quarter
profit tumbled 58 percent as advertising sales plunged.

Armstrong Recruits

AOL, spun off from Time Warner in December, is trying to
reignite growth by investing in specialized Web sites and
producing more original news and features. AOL said in February
it hired former Google executive David Eun to oversee more than
80 sites, including Politics Daily and video creator StudioNow.

The memo from Spencer Stuart says the new hire will report
to AOL’s senior vice president of entertainment. The person will
be responsible for turning the unit into “one of AOL’s highest
performing content businesses,” the memo says. AOL’s music site
currently offers news on artists as well as videos and pictures.